28th May 2019 - Andrew

We wake and experience a great breakfast - greek yogurt and strawberry compote followed by omelettes with all kinds of stuff - really good food and coffee. Then we head off driving around the island to see a little of the villages and landscape.

We head inland through some tiny twisty roads (on Ikaria you rarely get the car out of second gear); 30-40km/h is the only sane speed because of narrow roads and very limited lines of sight.

The villages are small and loosely dispersed with little more than a single road and a few houses built along the mountain. Often a tiny taverna (almost always closed this time of year) sits near the densest part of the village. The roads climb radically and we wind our way up the mountains - near the highest parts we stop and take photos through the foresty bits. We had planned to walk a bit but cannot find the path and realise that it is too cold and windy at these altitudes for our clothing.

The road down the other side of the island is very beautiful, dramatic and exposed. Cara gets a bit terrified at the massive vertical drops over the edge as we wind our way down hairpin bends moving several hundred meters down.

We slowly travel along to the opposite coast and eventually get down to the water. We take a break and find a small pebble beach made entirely of beautiful translucent stones - it looks like a scratch patch! We paddle our feet then head up the coast.

28th May 2019 - Cara

Theas’ husband has a farm where he grows all the produce and the meat we eat in the restaurant. The yogurt is wonderful. The strawberry compote is fresh from the garden. The omelettes can be filled with bacon, feta, tomato, vegetables. The milk with the coffee is wonderful - I later find out it is evaporated milk!

The villages are quaint, clinging to the steep slopes alongside the road, goats in pens. There are three roads through the island: the one we are on splits on the other side to go left to the capital or right through the only tunnel to another seaside town we will visit later; a road we come back on going over the mountains past a military installation at the relatively harsh summit; and a road continuing from Nas going round the coast to the other side.

Today is our big explore day, which we plan to spend mostly driving the island. The interior and the other side are very sparsely populated. The other side is wilder and steeper. In every community there is the domed blue and white orthodox church. They are beautiful.

The moment at the top of the pass before we headed down the terrifying road to Agros Kirykos may be the only time I was cold in Greece. When we returned here later it was warm. But now there was a biting cold wind and it was a relief to return to the car.

Walking routes here (and on the mainland) don’t tend to be well sign-posted. You need a local to tell you where to start. We’d read about a walk amid old oaks at the top here but couldn’t find a path. There was a stone church a little further up the road on the top of the pass but is was difficult to get to (on a bend and rough dirt incline) so we never tried.

27th May 2019